Description:Billingley's Outrigger in Laguna Beach was located in the Surf and Sand Hotel. While the restaurant has been replaced, the Surf and Sand stills stands at 1555 South Coast Highway.

Research shows that Glenn Billingsley's first restaurant opened in Los Angeles in 1946 and was called The Golden Bull. At one point Glenn had seven Golden Bull restaurants, three Outriggers and the catering business for Continental Airlines according to the article I read. The original Billingsley's is still open in LA.

Yeah that blue one is a killer!
You can also find the first, abstract modern one on page 301 of Tiki Modern. Note that the "name inside the outrigger graphic" is taken from the sign on the building, BOT page 170. The menu illustrations (p.171) are taken from both, the classic Trader Vic's, and the Don The Beachcomber menus.

A while back someone posted a photo of the building today, and of course it was completely stripped of all lava rock and Bamboo. But the key building elements were still there, proving how "cosmetic" a lot these features were.

Sad indeed Dusty. From beautiful style to bland crap. That image is from google street views. I may be out of work at the moment but I can still pilot the Tiki Satellite from mission control here in Kazoo.

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On 2009-06-04 11:09, Tiki-Kate wrote:Research shows that Glenn Billingsley's first restaurant opened in Los Angeles in 1946 and was called The Golden Bull. At one point Glenn had seven Golden Bull restaurants, three Outriggers and the catering business for Continental Airlines according to the article I read. The original Billingsley's is still open in LA.

Glenn Billingsley had another restaurant in Hollywood - probably in the pre-tiki poly pop era - called the Cafe Tropics. Spotted this matchbook on ebay, that's how I know.

Here is a fun illustrated postcard from Billingsley's original Cafe Tropics in Hollywood I saw on ebay. Really shows that he started by following the early pre-Tiki lead from Don, Vic and Suggie and kept going later with the Outrigger restaurants.

I found out about the Billingsley's Outrigger the other day while reading through Remixed. All I can say is wow. I drive by the Surf and Sand every day, and had NO idea of how good it looked in it's former life. I guess Laguna's still got the Royal Hawaiian...kind of. :/
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